Description

Unusually, this single scene takes up nearly three full pages of the manuscript. 

This is the first page, on which are six objects, each in its own panel: 

  • the elephant, the bull, and the lion on the first row
  • Goddess Śrī, a garland, and the moon on the second row.

These three pages represent the 14 dreams that were dreamt by the brahmin lady Devānandā. She bore the embryo of Mahāvīra before it was transferred to the kṣatriya queen, Triśalā. The embryo Mahāvīra was transferred by Hariṇaigameṣin, the commander-in-chief of the god Śakra. Śakra ordered him to do this because Jinas cannot be born of a brahmin mother. These dreams announce the Jina’s great destiny. 

The next six dreams are on the next page of the manuscript.

The last two dreams are shown on the following page, in individual panels above Devānandā lying in her couch.

This is a painting in popular style. Note the way the ‘lion’ is depicted. In the Indian tradition, the moon is said to contain a deer, which is shown here within the white disc. 

Other visual elements 

This manuscript is different from the mainstream Kalpa-sūtra manuscripts from western India, which in style look more like solemn objects.

This example represents a more popular style very different from the usual artistic canon.